Hello,
First I'll explain the map thing. I'm guessing you want bird's-eye view 2d maps like Zelda/FF, so to build your map all you need is a free program that comes with most comuters: Microsoft Paint. First make what you want the ground to look like (without trees or anything), then have a pic of a tree, or a rock, and load those multiple times where you need them, and you can do the same for any other "background" objects that don't require animation.
To make an animation you need to either have a gif file that shows the animation you want, and duplicates for facing other directions (facing north/up_walk, west/left_walk, etc.). The other method is using a bunch of bitmaps that, when flipped through in a special order (like animator's notebook), show an animation. From there load each frame or bitmap after a certain number of milliseconds(depending on how fast you want the animation to play). If you need help email or post here again.
hope I could help,
Juvenile Industries
Current Project: The First Room (FPS)
Side Projects: SHIPWRECK, the boss's school project
